ndia escapes U.S. list of worst human traffickers

The annual Trafficking in Persons report, released Tuesday, says that as many as 800,000 people -- largely women and children -- are trafficked across borders each year. Many are forced into prostitution, sweatshops, domestic labor, farming and child armies. (Watch why India isn't on Tier 3 )

U.S. officials told CNN the question of India's ranking caused a heated debate between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.

Negroponte wanted India listed as a Tier 3 country, or worst offender. Rice overruled him out of concern about alienating the Indian government. India is on the Tier 2 watch list.

Find political will to end ‘disgrace’ of child labor, Indian bishops urge

In a June 12 message, ”Protect children and serve the nation” issued on the day of the observance of No Child Labor Day, Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios of Mavelikara, chairman of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India Commission for Labor, called child labor “one of the oldest evils” and a “disgrace” that reduces underage workers to the status of “things” rather than human beings.

“Child labor exists because it is very profitable and convenient for the beneficiaries who are included the elite in the society as also high ranking lawmen,” the bishop said, noting that, while the issue has been studied and discussed for years, “it not only remains unchanged but is spreading rapidly by way of child trafficking.”

India was the world's sixth-largest oil importer in 2004

India's economic growth is driving increasing energy ties with the Middle East, at a time when China, the United States, and Japan are all ramping up efforts to lock in access to oil and natural gas in the region.